Crime & Safety

Heavy Police And Fire Activity Spotted On Ortega Highway

Three incidents warrant heavy activity Tuesday.

The Ortega Highway was busy Tuesday morning as police and fire tackled three separate incidents.

The first incident is a controlled burn at the Orange County/Riverside County line in the Cleveland National Forest that began around 8 a.m., according to Gordon Martin, Division Chief of the U.S. Forest Service’s Trabuco Ranger District Office.

The fire is expected to burn about 20 acres through 2 p.m. Tuesday, Martin said.

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There are no further controlled burns expected in the forest this week, although future burns are likely through the spring months, Martin said.

As far as scheduling the prescribed fires, Martin said, “it’s hard to say. It all depends on the weather.”

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In addition to the burn, police activity that started in Orange County Tuesday also made its way across the county line on the Ortega.

According to Deputy Albert Martinez of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, a police pursuit began at 10:05 a.m. in Orange County. Police are looking for suspects in a 1990s Lincoln Town Car. At press time, there were no further details available. (CLICK HERE FOR THE STORY UPDATE)

Additionally, authorities are continuing a search in the Cleveland National Forest for a man and woman who got lost while hiking in Trabuco Canyon, the Orange County Sheriff's Department reported Monday.

Costa Mesa residents Nicholas Cendoya, 19, and Kyndall Jack, 18, called for help from a cell phone around 8:25 p.m. Sunday. Soon after calling, their phone battery died.

The hikers believed they were about one mile from their vehicle, but deputies failed to find them during an initial foot search, authorities reported.

The search continues with deputies, a sheriff's helicopter and bloodhound currently at the scene.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Cendoya and Jack are asked to call the Orange County Sheriff’s Department at 714-647-7000.


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